Nick
Nick (also known as Nicolas) is one of the four playable Survivors in Left 4 Dead 2. He is a gambler and a con-man with a shady (even violent) past. He seems reluctant to be a part of the group at all and takes the role of "the complainer", finding fault in other people's plans, the increasingly sorry state of his once-fine suit and his teammate's character flaws, as he judges them. This makes him difficult for the others to like at first, but that changes as time goes by, as he learns to trust them and proves himself a valuable part of the team. Nick's facial features are based on Taymour Ghazi and he is voiced by Hugh Dillon. Official Description Relationships with other Survivors Nick's sarcasm, pessimism and general bad attitude make him arguably the most antagonistic character in the series so far. As a result, almost everyone he meets dislikes him at first. He seems reluctant to be a part of the group and at the beginning of the game he can tell them not to even bother remembering his name, as he claims that he won't be around long. Hints of his violent past surface when he starts the game as an expert at using First aid kits''"Don't worry, I've done this before", and when badly hurt may say "It's been a long time since I felt this bad". He also has an assortment of rather gruesome knowledge that he shares from time to time (how easy it is to get brains out of suits, how hard it is to get blood out of a wedding dress and the like), which he follows up with "...don't ask how I know that". As the game progresses, Nick's stance towards the others seems to thaw, and although he never loses his standoffish attitude, there are hints that he's not as callous as he appears to be. * 'Coach:' Nick and Coach seem to live to trade jabs, similar to Francis and Bill. Nick insults Coach and makes fun of his weight, but also will not hesitate to compliment him when he does something good, such as killing a Special Infected. He seems to respect Coach's status as the group's punative leader, even when he's the first to voice doubts about any course of action Coach decides is the best. Nick seems to recoil quickly when he has clearly annoyed Coach, and Coach is quick to shut Nick down if his complaints get close to the line . Their antagonism stops at words, as neither one ever looks likely to abandon the other. If Nick sees Coach dead, he will be sad, saying "You were a hell of a man, Coach," and "I'll miss ya". * 'Ellis:' Nick has little respect for Ellis and will mock everything about him, though his most common target is Ellis's sunny attitude and appearance, often implying that he is a stereotypical hillbilly. In The Passing, he outright threatens to leave Ellis behind. However, his respect for Ellis does seem to grow as the story goes on; for example, after escaping in Dead Center and starting the events of Dark Carnival, he will either compliment Ellis ''"Don't sweat it, at least you got us out of that mall." or upset him "Goddamn you, Jimmy Gibbs Jr.!". He also seems to insult Jimmy Gibbs Jr. on purpose just to annoy Ellis and Coach. Though he will ask Ellis if the Midnight Riders, a band that Ellis likes, are good, which might be an attempt to get along with him. Even when Ellis dies, his attitude is negative "I didn't think you'd last this long.", unless both Coach and Rochelle are killed, which is when Nick will say "Hey Ellis, all that stuff I said about you? I was kidding". Outgoing, friendly Ellis doesn't seem fazed by any of the abuse, although if Nick kills a Special Infected, Ellis will suggest darkly "Why does it not surprise me that you're good with a gun?". * Rochelle: Rochelle is the one Survivor Nick seems to like from the very start. She is the one character he won't threaten with violence if she shoots him, and will instead tell her firmly to stop. He is less reluctant to use his medkits and items on her early in the game. Sometimes when Nick sees Rochelle dead, he will say "I can think of two other people I would have rather seen go first, " or "So much for repopulating the Earth," implying that his interest in her may be primarily reproductive/sexual. This may be due to his status as a ladies man, however Nick is utterly dismissive of Zoey, the only other uninfected female he meets in the game. After Francis takes a liking to Rochelle, Nick reacts almost jealously, calling Francis a "greasy pig" or her boyfriend. For her part, Rochelle acts rather ambivalently towards Nick. She's nice to him the same way she's nice to everyone and can be quick to take his side after he shoots the Infected helicopter pilot, but in The Passing she goes as far as saying that she hates him when he mocks Ellis' crush one too many times. Still, the two seem to have more in common than with the others, as they are both out-of-towners, like sarcasm and (when controlled by the AI) have similar taste in weaponry (assault rifle variants). They stand next to each-other in every single mission poster. * Francis: Nick and Francis instantly dislike each other. At the start of The Riverbank, if Francis is present, he refers to him as a "greasy vest-wearing monkey" while Francis calls him "Suit" or "Colonel Sanders". During The Passing, he will refer to their mission as to "lower the bridge and kick the biker's ass". He also shows a great distrust of Francis, believing he will not keep his word to lower the bridge."That biker guy better still be here."''However, Nick isn't far from thanking Francis for lowering the bridge, and may sometimes express concern for the trio ''"You three take care of yourself...and thanks.". If Francis mentions losing a man, Nick may say "Hey...sorry for your loss". * Zoey: Nick and Zoey also dislike each other at first glance. Nick starts things off by patronizing Zoey, calling her "cupcake" and asking if there is a "man" up there he can talk to. Zoey will act sarcastically helpless "Boo hoo, I don't know what to do...Go to hell, Colonel Sanders!" She even threatens to hurt/kill him "I could shoot you where you stand", to which Nick might say he was merely joking "Would you lighten up? Man, nobody can take a joke anymore.". She, like Francis, calls him "Colonel Sanders" . Nick will mercilessly tease Ellis for his crush on Zoey, even suggesting Ellis get Zoey's name tattooed on his butt."Ellis, did you get that girl's name? 'Cause I can tattoo it on your ass. She'll like that." When they meet up again during The Port, Zoey is most reluctant to help Nick, but does support him along with everyone else once the battle starts. * Louis: Nick seems to have a dismissive attitude about Louis."Fine sure, you need to go fill it up with the gas cans, good luck to you, even if you are acting like that." Because of this, Nick is the only Survivor Louis dislikes. Louis will occasionally agree with Francis, saying "Bill would have shot him by now." Nick is also the only Survivor Louis doesn't wish luck to at the end of The Passing. However, Nick seems to appreciate Louis's shooting skills, and even offers to leave Ellis behind for him to come along. Louis will reverse his distaste for Nick, even if he doesn't remember his name. Nick will eventually apologize to the original Survivors for his coldness, which they acknowledge by warning him about incoming Infected, helping him and the other Survivors out, and bidding them farewell on their way. Quotes See: Nick/Quotes Notes * All of Nick's new lines in The Passing are Francis's grey color with captions on, much like Louis and Zoey's new lines in Crash Course. * In the Zombie Survival Guide trailer, Nick is seen wielding weapons in either his left or right hands at different times, possibly meaning he is ambidextrous. * Nick bears the same symbol on a ring of his as Francis has on one of his tattoos (seen to the right). * In the commentary for Left 4 Dead 2, the developers stated that Nick's character was originally an escaped prisoner that stole a nice suit, but he was eventually adapted into his current con man persona. It is probable that he is still a convicted felon, as Nick can make a remark to the effect that he's not legally allowed to own firearms - a right Americans only lose if convicted of a felony, or some severe misdemeanors involving a firearm. ** This is supported by the fact that when in The Swamp, Nick may sometimes state that brains come out of a suit but swamp water doesn't, and then tells the others to not ask him how he knows that. ** Also supporting this is when approaching the wedding area on The Riverbank, he may state "This brings back some bad memories,", or that it's hard to get blood out of a wedding dress, which hints at some violent incident on his wedding day. However, the bride likely wasn't killed in the incident, since he mentions that the Witch's cry reminds him of his ex-wife, implying she, at least, survived long enough to divorce him. ** Sometimes when Nick picks up a Baseball Bat, he will state it brings back some good memories. When asked by Coach if he played ball, Nick will respond with "bouncer at a nightclub", indicating he beat on a bouncer at a nightclub with a bat (which may have resulted in a felony charge that lost him his right to carry a firearm), or was a bouncer himself. * When a Tank attacks in Dead Center, Nick will sometimes say that perhaps if they do not move, the Tank will not notice them; or "we have a problem". This is possibly referencing a scene from the movie Jurassic Park. * Nick has a hickey mark on his neck and lipstick on his collar, implying he may be a bit of a ladies' man. * He is referred to as "gambler" in the game files. * Nick is the one who shot the infected helicopter pilot at the start of Swamp Fever. His teammates may react positively to this, Ellis screaming "That was some CRAZY shit," and Rochelle saying "That's true. If I had to pick a low point in the flight, it was probably when the pilot stopped flying the chopper and... attacked us," or negatively, with Ellis complaining "Yeah he was a zombie, but he was also OUR ONLY PILOT." Nick can either insist "He was a zombie, he must have been bitten before he picked us up," or say "I can't believe none of you were going to shoot him,", which implies that the rest of the team froze when the pilot turned on them. * Nick's gambler background pops up from time to time as he keeps the other Survivors informed of their increasingly slim odds of survival. * Every now and then, when Nick says Ellis's name, he may add a silly accent to it, mimicking Ellis. Otherwise he may refer to him as 'overalls', sharing the nickname of the Charger. * As of The Passing, Nick reveals that he knows how to do tattoos and offers to give Ellis or Rochelle one; however, he apparently cannot do tattoos with color. * Nick is the only Left 4 Dead 2 Survivor not to fall for Francis's claims of being a cop. If he did not speak to Francis at the beginning, he is quick to realize that the Left 4 Dead Survivors are not cops at the finale. * A glitch occasionally occurs in the game when Nick dies. Ellis, or even Coach, will not speak, even if said Survivor is pounced by a Hunter, caught by a Jockey, etc. They will begin to talk again when Nick is saved from a closet or somebody uses a defibrillator on him. * In an in-game vote, Nick came out joint-top with Ellis as people's favorite character, both getting 33% of the vote for PC players. He came in second place on the 360 version, with Ellis placing first. * One of Nick's quotes could be a possible reference to The Simpsons. Sometimes when healing a teammate he will say "Let Doctor Nick fix you up." In the Simpsons, Doctor Nick is a cheap doctor, often not knowing many relevant things about medical treatment. This could also be further proof towards Nick having previous experience with medical kits, as he will also sometimes say "Just relax, I've done this before," when he uses his first kits early in the game. * Along with Bill, Nick has claw marks on his body; but in this case, they are on his chest. They may have been from the Infected, or are just keeping up his appearance as a ladies' man. * Nick is the only current Survivor who retained his appearance from either beta screenshots or trailers out of all the playable Survivors in Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. Gallery bg_nick.jpg|A close up photo of Nick. nick-left-4-dead-2-character-screenshot.jpg|Nick's first appearance in the E3 trailer. Image:Cutnick.jpg|Nick as he appears in the E3 version of The Parish poster. Image:Render-nick.jpg|Nick with a Frying Pan as seen in game. left_4_dead_2_conceptart_bUxvq.png|Nick's in-game character picture. 445222 full.jpg|A close up of Nick in Hard Rain. Image:Nicks face model.jpg|Nick's face model, Taymour Ghazi. Hugh Dillon.jpg|Hugh Dillon, Nick's voice actor. References #↑ http://www.l4d.com/survivors/nick/ #↑ "Don't worry, I've done this before" #↑ "Don't sweat it, at least you got us out of that mall." #↑ "Goddamn you, Jimmy Gibbs Jr.!" #↑ "I didn't think you'd last this long." #↑ "That biker guy better still be here." #↑ "You three take care of yourself...and thanks." #↑ "Boo hoo, I don't know what to do...Go to hell, Colonel Sanders!" #↑ "I could shoot you where you stand" #↑ "Would you lighten up? Man, nobody can take a joke anymore." #↑ "Ellis, did you get that girl's name? 'Cause I can tattoo it on your ass. She'll like that." #↑ "Fine sure, you need to go fill it up with the gas cans, good luck to you, even if you are acting like that." #↑ "Gonna bonk some heads with this!" Category:The Survivors Category:Left 4 Dead 2